Vignettes of the World
The destination of the day was the abandoned village of Yung Shue Au, meaning “the Banyan Pass.” The Itinerary We parked at Luk Keng and hiked on the seaside trail along Sha Tau Kok Hoi (also known as Starling Inlet). Having passed first Kai …
It took me three attempts to find the beautiful Shek Pan Tam, aka Ka Lung Tam (Ka Lung Pool) in the Nam Chung area of Sha Tau Kok. The potholes of Shek Pan Tam (meaning the stone-slab pool) are the largest such natural phenomenon in …
My original intention this day was to visit the potholes of Shek Pan Tam Pool in Nam Chung, Sha Tau Kok. I guess it would not surprise readers that I lost my way again. All thanks to Google GPS, which gives poor directions for hikers on country trails.
Once arriving in Nam Chung, I parked and headed off to Luk Keng. I knew that there was a way to the Shek Pan Tam Pool (also known as Ka Lung Tam) from Luk Keng. I had a pleasant stroll in the Luk Keng Village. There were some interesting sights of ruins within the village. It seemed to me that a number of villagers have deserted their houses, but enough good houses stood to keep it a viable community, unlike many other villages in the area, where whole villages deserted their homes.
At the end of Luk Keng Village I came upon the hiking trail. It was a very nice set of stone-paved steps. Generous shades blessed this first part of the trail. But then I saw the sign to the Edward Youde Memorial Pavilion, and I realized that I must have missed the opening to the Shek Tam Pool. So be it, I thought, the Edward Youde Memorial Pavilion it was.
The stairs took me about an hour. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I saw signs pointing to the Pavilion. Even on my way, I saw beautiful views northward, of the high rises of Shenzhen.
Sir Edward Youde was the only Governor in Colonial Hong Kong that died in office. He began his service in Hong Kong in 1982, in a time of uncertainty. It was during his administration that the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984. Passed away in Beijing in 1986, Sir Edward Youde was succeeded by Lord David Wilson. The Northern District District Council established this beautiful twin pavilion to commemorate Sir Edward Youde, who had taken the interests of Northern New Territories to heart when he was in office. Lady Youde initiated the Pavilion in 1988.
The view at the Pavilion was breathtaking. It was an aerial panorama of the Nam Chung and Luk Keng areas. There were some beautiful fish bonds, surrounded by the ranges on the horizon. Every road leads to Rome, I thought, and despite not finding the Shek Pan Tam, I found another treasure. I had no time to lose however, as I still hoped that I might find the pool after all. It was certainly in the vicinity and so I hurried off.
I followed signs for Nam Chung. On my way I passed by the Ping Ka Stream, with origin at Ping Fung Shan (Ping Fung Mountain). When this section of the Wilson Trail (Section 10) was built in 1995, the Kiu Shan Bridge provided the throughway over the stream, which usually flooded during rainy season and blocked passage. The rural leaders of the area named this bridge after Kiu Shan School, which was a school for the four neighboring villages in this area.
In early afternoon the sun was right above me. I was on my way back to Nam Chung. It was a steep descent for about 20 minutes. I passed by the helipad, the Pat Sin Leng Country Park Luk Keng Management Center, then I reached the starting point of Wilson Trail Section 10, and the Nam Chung Country Trail. Once on Nam Chung’s main road, there was almost no shade.
The views on Nam Chung’s main road was surprisingly good as well. There were many fish ponds. I figured that this was the ground view of the ponds that I saw up at the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Pavilion. The villagers led a quiet and peaceful life here, it seemed to me, tucked away in the rural pockets within the embrace of mountain ranges.
As I came upon the main highway, I realized that this was right where I parked my car. I could have come this way instead of walking 20 minutes to Luk Keng to start my trail. But I was glad, because the hike up the steep incline on Wilson Trail Section 10 would have been way worse than the stone-paved steps at Luk Keng.
And my next destination has to be Shek Pan Tam. I promised myself that nothing is impossible with better research.
This hike to Jardine’s Lookout would be the hike of the year. In fact, it is probably the single most rigorous hike I have ever done. Part A: The starting point was my friend’s place in Nam Fung Sun Tsuen, taking on Mount Parker Road …
Sunday morning greeted us with a bit of a heavy rain. We checked out at 10am, got into the car and drove around looking for breakfast. We came upon a Lavazza Café that was opened on Sunday morning. The family ordered one to two each …
The house was bustling in the morning as the children woke up to a new day. I woke up tired because I researched late into the night for restaurants to visit in Turin. My cousin requested Michelin restaurants. The family enjoys stately meals when they dine out.
We finally embarked upon our journey at 10am. The car ride from Lausanne, Switzerland to Turin, Italy would take three hours or more, depending on the weather conditions. We would be passing through the mountains.
We crossed the border and found ourselves in the land of cheap and good coffee. In Switzerland, coffee costed 5-7 CHF on average. As we waited for the key to the air bnb, I sneaked out for pastries and my coffee fix. €1.2 a cup and it was heavenly.
Our first stop into beautiful Turin was at the Scannabue Café. I had an onion soup plus a squid ink spaghetti with squid. It was wonderful. My cousin had a well-cooked octopus. We came out full and satisfied.
It was becoming late when we finished lunch. We wanted to visit Museo Eglizio, the Egyptian Museum. On our way to the Museum we passed by many stately buildings. I always thought it was the architecture that makes Europe amazing. We stopped for pictures at the Palazzo Carignano. It was the private residence of the Princes of Carignano. Now it houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. The building shows a Baroque style with an elliptical façade. It was the birthplace for a number of VIPs, including the first King of Italy Victor Emmanuel II in 1820. I noticed that a number of nice historic buildings in Italy have facades both in the front and in the back. The architecture was simply amazing.
The Egyptian Museum was an eye-opening experience. It began in 1824 and houses more than “40,000 artifacts,” of which ‘3,300 were on display in the gallery and 11,000 in the open storage, the “Galleries of Material Culture.”’ To say the least, Museo Eglizio is the epitome of the West’s fascination with Egyptian civilization.
Indeed, the Museum was candid in confronting this difficult aspect of its work: is museology so far away from “looting” in the proper sense of the word? I learned that Italy, the United States, France and Britain bought rights to research and archaeological excavations from the Egyptian government. Where the right was not bought out and executed properly, or without consent by the parties involved, the Italian researchers could lose their stakes in the expeditions.
The material and spiritual civilization of ancient Egypt as depicted in the Museum was rich, diverse and full of wonders. The explanations were well-researched, showing visitors the geographical origin, time period and the purposes that the artifacts served. The display was thoughtful, very often a whole case of artifacts restored to its original arrangement at the time of excavation. Finally, the exhibition upstairs presented sobering questions about the delicate balance between archaeology, museology, looting and the aim of preserving evidence of a civilization as part of humanity. Its practices, technology, and way of life are critical for the world in understanding its own past.
Could the West, in the name of humanity, take or purchase the treasures of Egypt in a way that truly respects what ancient Egypt stands for, even to its own people? Do the Egyptians appreciate the argument that its history is to be shared as a world heritage? Are they convinced? These contentions are well-alive and addressed in this wonderful museum.
The serious effort in telling the stories behind each type of artifact was truly commendable. With 15€ as the entrance fee, one could not have expected more. In fact, visitors entering after 5pm only paid 5€, as we did. This would be the most worthwhile of museums I have seen for a very long time.
This very educational experience satisfied my soul. We were ready for dinner as the museum closed. Koi was a Japanese fusion restaurant. We had a wonderful meal.
We walked by Piazza San Carlo, which was perfect for night pictures. Despite walking around for quite a while, we did not find any dessert. We rested the night at an air bnb in town. Tired, but supremely happy to be in Italy. It was quite a change of scenery from Switzerland. And that is what I like about Europe. There is another world, just a few hours away.
The idea was simple. Let’s bring art into a traditional community by drawing and painting murals. And the results were astounding. Miss Kwok Yin-ming teaches visual arts at a secondary school. She wanted to bring love into the community by gathering students and volunteers to …
We rose early to visit the Duy Phu village at My Son Valley. My Son, in Vietnamese, means “beautiful mountain.” In this part of Vietnam, the celebrated ancient culture is that of the Champa people. Now considered an ethnic minority (one of the 55), the …
God might have been with me on Monday, but certainly not on Tuesday. There was intermittent rain when we had breakfast. We liked the crisp baguette yesterday, so this time we ditched the eggs and requested Vietnamese ham instead.
Our driver kept us wait a bit but we made it to the Marble Mountains at 10:15. We had two hours there, and I was thankful that there was an elevator there for a fee. The hike up after the elevator was no trouble.
The Marble Mountains is a cluster of five mountains of marble and lime. They are named thus after the five elements of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. We were at the most popular mountain out of the five: Water.
The towers were more beautiful than what I expected judging from what was available on TripAdvisor. The caves and the grottos seem to intercede amongst each other. We went from one tower or pagoda to a cave, then to a tower. It was good for resting due to the cool air and the shelter in the caves. The rain was consistent. In fact, it was raining harder and harder. The steps were wet and steep, and there were times we had to use all four to move about. These numerous caves were our temporary reprieve.
The last cave with two chambers (enough to host a whole congregation of monks) were by far the most impressive. By then, my printed map had completely soaked to disintegration. Our shoes were all soaked too. It looked like I would have to buy new runners.
Hoi An was our destination on this trip. We made it to the homestay and checked in. There were bikes for our use (no fee), and so we biked to the Old Town. On our way we passed by a nice and big restaurant, Sang Thanh. We had cao lau, pancakes and veggies. It was very good.
Hoi An and its Old Town was bustling with tourists on this celebration time of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The streets were lined with tailor shops, for which Hoi An was well-known. The first impression of Hoi An was how neat and clean it was. Colorful lanterns hang on the souvenir shops all along its main streets. Festivity was in the air.
At Quan An 19 we had our dinner that evening. We ordered beef hot pot, white rose (a smallish fish and shrimp dumpling) and fried veggies.
There was hiking, there was lunch, there was dinner, and that was Day 3. All very good.
Spring is here in Hong Kong and I seize every chance I can to hike, for when summer comes it will be too hot to do so. This day I chose the Lau Shui Heung Country Trail in Fanling, in northern New Territories. Lau Shui …